Baby Sold on Facebook After Mother Was Told He Was Stillborn

In a horrifying case that thankfully has been exposed, a newborn baby was sold over Facebook for almost $15,000. As awful as that is, the whole twisted tale is even worse.

It started when 47-year-old Feroz Khan allegedly sold his newborn grandson to a hospital nurse, after telling his daughter her baby was stillborn. He got about $830 for his own flesh and blood. Then, according to the Hindu Business Line, that nurse sold the baby to a lab technician for about $5,500. From there the baby boy was put up for bid on Facebook where a New Delhi businessman reportedly paid almost $15,000 for him.

That poor baby. That poor mother.

It happened in northern India where the kidnapping and prostitution of children is rampant. So who knows what kind of a life this child would have faced if the crime had not been exposed. And it all started with the grandfather. I simply can't imagine anyone -- no matter his circumstances -- being able to do this to his own flesh and blood.

And can you imagine the betrayal his daughter, Noori Khan, must feel? To have her own father tell her such a horrific, heartbreaking lie. To mourn the loss of a child she has carried who was really still alive, and then to consider the danger he was in is just unbearable. It is in India where customs and ideas about children are different than ours, but nowhere on this planet should something like this ever happen.

And how does this happen on Facebook? How often does this go on? Those are questions that need answering.

Fortunately police were tipped off after the mother became suspicious of her father, and yesterday they raided the businessman's house and removed the child. Five people have been arrested in all. Both Khan and the two hospital workers have been charged with kidnapping, and will be in court tomorrow. According to the AFP, if they're found guilty, they could be jailed for seven years, which doesn't seem like nearly enough for something this heinous.